Analytic vs. Synthetic Phonics By: Debbie Pazderski Chris Wing

Phonics (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000) Phonics = the association between the letters in our alphabet and the sounds in our spoken language (i.e. phonemes) Research shows that systematically teaching children to manipulate phonemes significantly improves children’s reading and spelling abilities Letter sounds are the “building blocks” of words Research indicates that phonics instruction produces significant benefits for children K-6th grade and for students having difficulties learning to read National Reading Panel recommended the teaching of systematic phonics for routine classroom instruction

Phonics (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000) Phonics should be an essential component of a comprehensive reading program Phonics should be embedded within meaningful texts and reading activities Wray & Medwell (1999): Teachers who put the skills needed for decoding into context using meaningful texts for a real purpose were most effective Two main approaches to teaching phonics: Analytic phonics Synthetic phonics

Analytic Phonics (Ruddell, 2002) A.K.A.: Implicit phonics This approach teaches letter-sound relationships in the context of the word in which it is found. Compares unknown words to known words Avoids pronouncing sounds in isolation Ex: “b” says “bat” not “buh” Children learn to identify words by their shape, their beginning and ending letters, and by the context which they are used in sentences, often with the aid of pictures.

How is Analytic Phonics Taught? (Watson & Johnston, 2000) It starts at the whole word level Instruction usually begins with teaching the child to read a set of pre-selected words by sight Typically, students are taught one letter sound per week Students are shown a series of alliterative pictures and words which start with that sound Ex: car, cat, cake, castle

Teaching Analytic Phonics, Cont. (Watson & Johnston, 2000) When the 26 initial letter sounds have been taught, students are introduced to middle sounds and final sounds. Ex: cat, bag, rag Ex: nap, cup, pip Initial consonant blends Ex: ‘bl’, ‘cr’, ‘sp’ Final consonant blends Ex: ‘nt’, ‘ng’, ‘st’ Vowel and consonant digraphs Ex: ‘ee’, ‘oo’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’ Silent “e” Ex: ‘slate’, ‘blue’

Teaching Analytic Phonics, cont. (www.dyslexics.org.uk) When the child comes across an unfamiliar word, they are trained to break the word down into ‘onset’ and ‘rime’. Onset: initial letter or consonant cluster is sounded out Rime: the rhyming family that the rest of the word belongs to is then sounded out Ex: The “ot” family: pot, rot, cot

Synthetic Phonics (www.synthetic-phonics.com) A.K.A.: Explicit Phonics Synthetic phonics teaches letter-sound relationships by articulating the sound in isolation Contrasts analytic phonics, which teaches letter-sound relationships in the context of whole words Children learn to synthesize pronunciations for unfamiliar written words by translating letters into sounds and blending the sounds together Generally taught when children are first introduced to reading

Teaching Synthetic Phonics (www.synthetic-phonics.com) First Step: Students learn how to connect individual letters or letter combinations (e.g. sh, th, ee) with sounds Teaching Example: Write the letter b on the board along with the words bat, book, and better. Say: “The sound of b is /buh/. Let’s say the sound together (as you point to the letter b), /buh/. This is the sound we hear at the beginning of the words bat, book, and better (as you underline the b in each word). Let’s say the sound together again, /buh/.”

Teaching Synthetic Phonics (www.synthetic-phonics.com) Second Step: Students learn how to blend the sounds together to form recognizable words e.g. After students have learned the letters a, b, c, and t, they can be shown how to blend the letters together to form the words bat, cat, and cab Third Step: Students are taught to sound out and blend letters to pronounce unfamiliar words Rapid approach: Students typically learn about 6 phonemes per week Students learn most common letter-sound relationships in a matter of weeks

Analytic vs. Synthetic (Watson & Johnston, 2000) The whole word is seen and students have their attention drawn to certain letters and their sounds Taught after an initial sight vocabulary has been established Breaks down from whole to part Synthetic: All of the letter sounds are taught very rapidly and the emphasis is on how words are built up Generally starts before students are introduced to whole words or reading scheme books Builds up from part to whole

What type of phonics is better? (Hiskes, 1998) Analytic: Teaching can take up to 3 years Children can master 900 words by 3rd grade Encourages guesswork and provides a “recipe for failure” Synthetic: Can be taught in a few months Children can master up to 30,000 words by the end of the 3rd grade

Support for Synthetic Phonics (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2000) Well-supported by research! Effective for beginning readers, individuals with learning disabilities, low-achievers, children from low socio-economic levels Long-lasting effects Recommended by the U.S. National Reading Panel Synthetic phonics has become the foundation of the “Reading First” component of No Child Left Behind

References/Resources Hiskes, D. (1998). Explicit or implicit phonics: “Therein lies the rub”. Right to Read Report(2). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000. National Reading Panel Reports Combination of Teaching Phonics, Word Sounds, Giving Feedback on Oral Reading Most Effective Way to Teach Reading. Retrieved from: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/new/releases/nrp.cfm www.nationalreadingpanel.org Ruddell, R. (2002). Teaching children to read and write: Becoming an effective literacy teacher, 3rd ed. Allyn and Bacon: CA. www.syntheticphonics.com www.synthetic-phonics.com The main method to teaching reading. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2005, from http://www/aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/main_method_2.htm Watson, J. & Johnston, R. (1998). Accelerating reading attainment: The effectiveness of synthetic phonics. Retrieved from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/edru/pdf/ers/interchange_57.pdf.